The leopardtortoise has a wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan to the Cape. As a grazing species of tortoise, the leopardtortoise is most commonly found in semi-arid areas including shrubland and grasslands.

The leopardtortoise is a generally solitary animal that spends the majority of it's time grazing on plants, which it can do effectively using it's sharp beak-like mouth. As with other tortoise species, the leopardtortoise is a long-lived animal species, often reaching 100 years old or even more.

The leopardtortoise is a herbivorous animal meaning that it only eats plants and plant material in order to sustain itself. The leopardtortoise primarily grazes on grasses, leaves, berries and flowers along with fruits such as the prickly pear.

Leopard tortoises are not able to reproduce until they are at least 10 years old (known as reaching sexual maturity). As with other tortoise and even reptile species, the female leopardtortoise lays her clutch of up to 18 eggs into a burrow in the ground, which is quickly covered to protect her young from hungry passers-by.

Although there are thriving populations of leopardtortoises in more remote areas, when they are close to humans, the leopardtortoise populations are generally suffering, something which is primarily due to over-hunting by humans.